The thinnest glass substrates are used in the production of electronic devices such as FPD displays, touchscreens or TFT monitors. Customers expect flawlessness and a perfect appearance from these products. For that reason alone, manufacturers have to strictly monitor each of the many complex processing steps. A defect the size of the smallest particle is enough to render the finished product unusable. As an answer to this challenge, ISRA VISION has developed Flat Panel Master, the complete inspection line for FPD glass substrates. With high-end technological components and an optical resolution in the micrometer range, the system provides full production security. The completely automated and flexible solution enables 100% monitored substrate manufacturing processes and as a result facilitates highest product quality and production efficiency. Using Flat Panel Master, no more money is wasted on the processing of flawed raw material.

With 30 years of experience in the field of glass inspection, ISRA has acquired invaluable knowledge about the individual needs and demands of the glass industry. Thin glass manufacturers had long demanded a solution to monitor the quality process with 100% certainty, beginning at the incoming glass substrates and covering the entire production chain. Flat Panel Master matches this request. It consists of four individual inspection modules, together providing a most powerful detection performance.

The FPM-PARTICLE module reliably detects even μm-sized particles, thus ensuring that only flawless thin glass is passed on to the following production process. The recorded inspection data gives insight about the degree of particle density in the clean room and can be used to optimize the preliminary cleaning procedure.

The reliable detection of all glass defects including bubbles, scratches, stains, inclusions and platinum needles is made possible by FPM-INSPECT. The module uses an innovative setup which combines multiple optical channels in a single sensor – an effective and efficient way to avoid scrap at the end of the production process to considerably reduce costs. With FPM-EDGE, users minimize breakage, increase up-time and optimize grinding. The system inspects the substrate edges using Multi-View technology with a 360° view. This enables the detection of defects like cracks, shells, shiners and breakouts with unmatched precision.

ISRA has designed FPM-REVIEW for the microscopic analysis of selected quality flaws at the end of the production line. This system works in online as well as in offline mode. Relevant defects can be selected and recorded at several microscopic resolutions, utilizing a fully automatic and performance-optimized autofocus. The accompanying software helps to find the root-cause and offers the opportunity to re-classify the imperfection. If needed, substrates can be re-graded. This way, users gain the most detailed knowledge about any defect.

Utilizing patented technologies such as Multi-Mode and Multi-View, Flat Panel Master provides an outstanding classification performance. This serves as an ideal basis to make correct production decisions and to sustainably boost quality, processing reliability and productivity. In short, Flat Panel Master effectively reduces costs.